Coronavirus affecting our main source of revenue – President Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday said that the outbreak of Coronavirus was affecting Nigeria’s main source of revenue.

He was speaking on the impact of coronavirus on the nation’s revenue for the first time while receiving workers in the health sector under the aegis of Joint Health Sector Unions and Assembly Healthcare Professionals Associations.

On Monday, the Federal Government announced the possibility of an impending plan to reduce the N10.6tn 2020 budget, following the impact of the outbreak of Coronavirus on the global crude oil price.

The president, while addressing members of JOHESU and AHPA, appealed to workers in the health sector to bear with the administration in their demands as it braced up for the challenges posed by coronavirus to the economy.

He assured that government was looking into their issues with a view to resolving them.

“Your case is certainly receiving attention, but you must bear in mind the condition that the country is in now. Coronavirus is not improving matters. It is affecting what we very much depend on, the petroleum industry and therefore revenue,” he said in a statement by his media aide, Garba Shehu.

Buhari also called on the visitors to appeal to the patriotic sentiments of their members in these trying times and continue to work for further development of the country.

“So, please try and help us with your people. Let us be patriotic, let us look at the ways and means of the government and appeal for restraint…We have to emphasize that it is very important we maintain cohesion together, because if we allow sentiments or popularity to overwhelm our reasoning faculties, we will be in trouble and it will be too late for us to adjust, so please bear with us,” said the President.

He said his administration’s successful drive for food sufficiency in the last four years would come in handy now with the drop in government revenue.

“We thank God; God is very sympathetic to us. The three previous rainy seasons were good. We had good foresight in getting fertiliser, making it available and we virtually achieved food security. We made good decisions, and we saved hundreds of millions of dollars on importation of food. If not, we would have been in real trouble,” he added.

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